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Johto Forever! A Mono-Region VGC RMT

Way back in January, Club Double Trouble decided to hold a Mono Region tournament using VGC rules. Between conflicting scheduling with all the recent wifi tournaments and most people just not being prepared whenever an open date came up, the tourney kept getting pushed back again and again before finally being canceled altogether. However, by then I had already bred, trained, and tested three johto themed teams that I will now share so that my time, energy, and ingenuity will not have been completely wasted. So, to be commented on by a few and ignored by the rest, here are the teams:

(Disclaimer: Many of the sets featured in this RMT are gimmicky and highly annoying; and should not be used by anyone.)

Now if you look at all the pokemon released in 2nd gen, there's a few that stand out. Politoed, Kingdra, Scizor, Slowking, etc.; but nothing to make a good rain team. So might as well go with sun. I use this Crobat on my current wifi team already, so it seemed like a good place to start for an all Johto team. Now you may be thinking this is a pretty off the wall Crobat set, and you'd be right. It's strictly meant to play a support role, so I put all the IV's into bulk and speed rather than either attack stat. Just enough speed to outrun max speed Weavile, and the rest maximize her special defense since the team I pulled her from has plenty of Intimidate support. Super Fang makes foes easier for allies to KO, Tailwind and Sunny Day provide Speed and weather control, and Giga Drain was initially added to handle Gastrodons, but it helps overall with bulky water types and with keeping Shirley healthy.

With an all Johto team, of course I'm using Typhlosion. Your pretty typical Eruption set. Fire Blast let's Typhlosion hit hard once her health drops, and to get around Wide Guard shenanigans. Hp Ice over Hp Grass since Crobat already has Water types covered by Sunny Day and Giga Drain, and dragons are far more threatening. This pair can quickly mow down most teams that are unprepared, making it an excellent speed mode for the team. They also work good for a late game strategy or to play mind games in the team preview stage.

Heracross is just a good all around attacker. Not too big a fan of the 252/252 spread, but she hits a good speed stat with it. Unfortunately, the lack of bulk means Aela often needs some babysitting from the rest of the team to pull off some KO's. Other than that, she does well and makes a good status absorber. Wide Lens because I want Megahorn and Stone Edge to actually hit when I use them, and the lack of a Flame Orb lures people into thinking I'm not running a Guts set so that they waste a turn trying to burn her.

Cho Mien gives me another form of speed control and is a counter to Rain. She was originally on one of my Triples teams, so her EV's were, a bit hastily, redone for Doubles. She does alright though. Most people expect Volt Absorb anyways, so with Water Absorb it's almost like having two immunities, at least until she starts regaining health from those Hydro Pumps and Muddy Waters.

Hitmontop, the staple for so many VGC teams, and for good reason. With it's good bulk, variety of support moves, and Intimidate; Hitmontop is a valuable asset to any Doubles team. Helping Hand lets him help out teamates, particularly useful in instances where he'd faint before attacking anyways. Feint to break through Protect, mess with people anticipating Fake Out, and finish off foes with just a sliver of health left. It's been so long since I've put the EV's in place I don't quite remember the reasoning behind them, but I believe they should allow him to survive Psyshocks and Psychics from Cresselia.

This is where we start getting into more experimental and fun sets. Sneasel adds extra Fake Out support and picks off some of the fast, frailer foes. Her own frailness combined with the Focus Sash and Counter makes for a nasty surprise for physical attackers. Once the Sash gets used, Pickpocket activates and steals their item. The EV's are meant to let her hit as hard as possible, while maintaining that frailness to physical attacks to take advantage of Pickpocket.

Not one my best teams to be honest. It concentrates on hitting hard and fast, but lacks much of the bulk and longevity of Doubles teams and has no answer for Trick Room. Mostly it would rely on holes in other peoples teams from having to be limited to one region to net wins. I will say it's capacity for luck is through the roof. Maybe it's because I'm so used to building teams that have as little hax as possible, but sometimes this teams luck is unbelievable, so many matches I should have lost. I did gain a new appreciation for Heracross from using it though, and it's always fun to sweep teams in two turns with Typhlosion (as long as Scarf Chandelure isn't around to ruin my fun, DW Typhlosion needs to be released already).

For this tournament we were permitted to use multiple teams, provided we stuck to our chosen region. For this second team I carried over my Crobat and Typhlosion so as to deter the use of Steel and Bug types during the team preview stage since they could easily mess this team up. It would also provide quick victories when possible, just like before.

Ever since Pokemon Coliseum I've wanted to use a doubles team with Espeon and Umbreon again, this time with a more competitve mindset. Solara's main role is to quickly KO any Fighting or Steel types before Umbreon comes into play. Then she Skill Swaps Magic Bounce to Umbreon, making it easier for him to set up. Skill Swap can also be used to mess with the opponents abilities. The EV's are meant to give Solara some
bulk, while the Life Orb preserves her offensive prowess.

With all the evolutions added in 4th gen, a lot of 2nd gen mons make excellent Eviolite candidates. Togetic keeps a lot of the pressure off of Espeon while she gets to work and later Umbreon once he gets into play. Since Togetic doesn't get Air Slash for some reason, I had to make due with Extrasensory for some para-flinching. Protect keeps Togetic safe when the opponent tries to double attack it, making that turn a waste. Sometimes I do switch out Elisef for Garan though, since Hitmontop provides pretty good support here too.

Throughout my battles, I've always held the theory you can't lose if your pokemon never die. Umbreon is the epitome of that theory. Barring critical hits, with the right team support it just can't be killed. After getting Skill Swapped Magic Bounce from Espeon, only Haze and Dragon Tail can stop Brighteye from setting up, and those hardly ever come up. This wouldn't be necessary if Umbreon had just gotten Magic Bounce as a DW ability in the first place, but I digress. Speaking of Umbreon's DW ability, I will always be disappointed it wasn't something better, but if it must be Inner Focus, might as well use it. At least it'll keep Fake Out and flinch hax from screwing with me, so it's more useful than Synchronize (now if Synchronize were to pass on sleep to the enemy whenever Brighteye used Rest that would be a different story, but alas, it does not). Inner Focus isn't going to hang around long anyways so it doesn't matter too much. The EV's are different from the average Cursebreon for a reason. Just because you're already boosting a stat doesn't mean you get to ignore it. Umbreon still needs to be able to survive a physical attack before it can get that initial Curse up. From there it's smooth sailing. Curse, Rest, and Payback are obvious. Snatch is another Coliseum inspired strategy that let's me punish those who think it's safe to set up while I'm setting up. Chesto over Leftovers since having to sleep for two turns with only one or two Curse boosts can be fatal. Typhlosion, Crobat, and Umbreon; there's half my in-game Silver team.

That's right, physically offensive Blissey. Fear the fury of it's mighty base 10 attack stat! The idea's so deliciously absurd, of course I'm going to use it. She's meant to come in after Umbreons gotten a few Curses in, copy them, then start chipping away at the enemy. Last Resort does pretty decent damage after 3-4 Curse boosts and the defense boosts make her that much harder to take down. Toxic makes it take longer to start using Last Resort, but it's a necessary fallback plan if she can't grab enough Curse boosts. She also serves a supportive role for Umbreon with Healer cutting down on the turns he's resting and Softboiled providing quick recovery when used in combination with Snatch.

This team fares a bit better than the previous one. It does have a little trouble busting through Tyranitar, but it can be done. For the most part it does pretty well. Scrafty and Landous-t are a bit problematic if they aren't dealt with quickly though.

I originally hadn't planned on making this third team. When looking at all options Johto had, a Contrary team was alluring, but also a bit played out and predictable. As the date for tournament kept getting pushed back farther and farther though, the idea nagged me more and more. Finally I broke and started putting the team together. By then most of the team was already figured out in my head, so it wasn't too difficult. Shuckle actually makes for a fantastic support pokemon. Guard Split makes team members much bulkier, while Power Split cripples any attacker the opponent uses. Knock Off get's rid of the opponents items and keeps him from being taunt bait. More on Acupressure later.

Chuck is the main recipient of Shuckle's Contrary. With most people anticipating Fake Out, it's fairly easy to set up Role Play and Guard Split on turn one. From there it's just a matter of stacking those Defense boosts from Close Combat and resting off damage. Once all the Close Combats are used up, and Hitmontop has risen above petty mortality, Toxic gives him something to do besides just sitting there feeling invincible.

Tanner's meant to come in after Hitmontop's gotten a few defense boosts, copy those boosts, then sweep with Stored Power. Alternatively, he can come in to accept a Guard Split from Shuckle, then spam Wish while Shuckle applies Acupressure to power up Stored Power. With HP Ice Tanner can make for a speedy dragon slayer in a pinch.

Next I wanted a mon that could use Contrary a little more offensively. Given the lack of Role Play users in 2nd Gen and his type synergy with Hitmontop, Houndoom was the natural choice. The EV's try to maximize his physical bulk while also maintaining his speed. Combined with Guard Split, this makes Houndoom very durable. After copying Contrary, Overheat doubles his power every use. It was a toss up between HP Grass and Snarl, but in the end cutting down on the opponents Sp. Attack proved too useful. Brightpowder because, well, at the time all the other good items were already take by teamates. It's just kinda stuck since then.

Now what if someone tries to pull a rain team on me? What then? Well, I already have two Role Players, time to be a little clever. With this more precisely EV'd Lanturn once again providing speed control and merely being on the field, where Houndoom once stuggled in the rain, he now thrives. Scald gives me a more accurate Water STAB, but is mostly chosen for the chance of burn.

An all Johto team wouldn't be complete with the pokemon that gave so many people trouble through their in-game playthrough. Personally, I cruised through this part with my Quilava, but apparently many others did not. Now I very well couldn't use Rollout in Doubles, that would be suicide, but then the most annoying part of this pokemon was the amount of hax from Attract and Stomp combined with her natural bulk and Milk Drink. Due to there being more and more pokemon used in Doubles that are locked as male only, gender specific moves such as Attract and Captivate have slowly been rising in popularity. And since these moves usually see such little use, all lot of people have trouble handling them. I usually don't like relying on hax, but with this team even one turn of the enemy not attacking could make all the difference. Body Slam to spread paralysis for more hax, and with Scrappy guarantees not even ghosts escape. Milk Drink for recovery and Psych Up can copy some defense boosts from her teamates, making her even harder to take down. She also makes a good recipient for Guard Splits and Acupressure from Shuckle. I originally went with Chople Berry, but Miltank's so bulky it wasn't really necessary. With a set already as haxxy as this might as well go for broke and throw on a Lax Incense.

I also had some pretty good battles on the Nugget Bridge server. Unfortunately at the time it wasn't possible to save videos of those battles. However I did save the Battle Log of a battle where Miltank really shined. Spoiler:- Mitank's Greatness:

Turn 4
Lilwhitney used*Attract!
The foe's Heartseed fell in love!
The foe's Iori used*Twister!
Dewey lost*4%*of its health!
Lilwhitney lost*10%*of its health!
The foe's Heartseed is in love with Lilwhitney!
The foe's Heartseed is immobilized by love!
Dewey used*Guard Split!
Dewey shared its guard with the target!
The foe's Iori restored HP using its Leftovers!
The foe's Iori was hurt by poison!

Turn 5
Dewey, come back!
Go! Bo Tully*(Hitmontop)!
Bo Tully intimidates the foe's Iori!The foe's Iori's Attack fell!
Lilwhitney used*Body Slam!It's not very effective...
The substitute took damage for the foe's Heartseed!
The foe's Iori used*Twister!
Bo Tully lost*8%*of its health!
Lilwhitney lost*4%*of its health!
The foe's Heartseed is in love with Lilwhitney!
The foe's Heartseed is immobilized by love!
The foe's Iori restored HP using its Leftovers!
The foe's Iori was hurt by poison!
The foe's Iori fainted!
KokoroConnect sent out Taichi*(Thundurus)!

Turn 7
The foe's Taichi used*Taunt!
Dewey fell for the taunt!
Dewey used its Mental Herb to come back to its senses!Dewey's taunt wore off!
Lilwhitney used*Milk Drink!
Lilwhitney regained health!
The foe's Heartseed is in love with Lilwhitney!
The foe's Heartseed is immobilized by love!
Dewey used*Guard Split!Dewey shared its guard with the target!

Turn 8
The foe's Taichi used*Taunt!
Dewey fell for the taunt!
Lilwhitney used*Attract!
The foe's Taichi fell in love!
The foe's Heartseed is in love with Lilwhitney!
The foe's Heartseed used Megahorn!
Dewey lost*50%*of its health!
Dewey can't use Acupressure after the taunt!

Turn 9
The foe's Taichi is in love with Lilwhitney!
The foe's Taichi used Thunder Wave!
Lilwhitney avoided the attack!
Lilwhitney used*Body Slam!
The foe's Taichi lost*29%*of its health!
The foe's Taichi ate its Sitrus Berry!The foe's Taichi restored HP using its Sitrus Berry!
The foe's Heartseed is in love with Lilwhitney!
The foe's Heartseed is immobilized by love!
Dewey used*Knock Off!
The foe's Taichi lost*2%*of its health!

Turn 10
Dewey, come back!
Go! Tanner*(Espeon)!
The foe's Taichi is in love with Lilwhitney!
The foe's Taichi is immobilized by love!
Lilwhitney used*Body Slam!It's not very effective...
The substitute took damage for the foe's Heartseed!
The foe's Heartseed is in love with Lilwhitney!
The foe's Heartseed is immobilized by love!

Turn 11
The foe's Taichi is in love with Lilwhitney!
The foe's Taichi is immobilized by love!
Tanner used*Hidden Power!It's super effective!*
The foe's Taichi lost*42%*of its health!
Lilwhitney used*Body Slam!It's not very effective...
The foe's Heartseed's substitute faded!
The foe's Heartseed is in love with Lilwhitney!
The foe's Heartseed is immobilized by love!

I like this team a lot actually. It is very hax oriented, but requires more strategy and thought than the first team I posted. I would have to say Espeon is the weakest link. A cool idea, but lacks the bulk to get the job done most of the time. MVP would have to go to Miltank, far more useful than I thought a troll set would be. This team owes quite a few wins to her. Overall a very fun team to play with, which part of the reason it has so many more battle videos.

Last edited by Silvershark; 29th May 2013 at 2:49 AM.

When it comes down to it, no idea's too Farfetch'd when it comes to building a pokemon team.